An assessment of marine, estuarine, and riverine habitat vulnerability to climate change in the Northeast U.S.

Climate change is impacting the function and distribution of habitats used by marine, coastal, and diadromous species. These impacts often exacerbate the anthropogenic stressors that habitats face, particularly in the coastal environment. We conducted a climate vulnerability assessment of 52 marine, estuarine, and riverine habitats in the Northeast U.

The University of South Dakota Physician Assistant Studies Program.

The University of South Dakota Physician Assistant Studies Program (USD PA Program) is in its 26th year of operation. The mission remains the same: to provide "a comprehensive primary care education that prepares graduates to deliver high-quality health care to meet the needs of patients in South Dakota and the surrounding region." The inaugural class graduated in 1995 making the class of 2018 our 24th.

Community Health Centers in the Dakotas, 2018.

Community health centers (CHCs) are a critical component of the healthcare safety network. The modern era of CHCs began in the mid-1960s although their origin can be traced back as far as the first two decades of the 20th century. Over 24 million people receive their healthcare in CHCs.

Collaboration in Primary Care Through the Integration of Behavioral Health Professionals.

Rising costs, poorer outcomes, and dissatisfied patients have challenged medical systems to rethink their approach to health care delivery. Although up to 70 percent of primary care visits stem from psychosocial issues, behavioral health services have traditionally occurred in separate buildings and systems. In order to decrease barriers and meet patients' and providers' needs, primary care practices have begun integrating behavioral health professionals into their clinics.

Foundations, Core Principles, Values, and Necessary Competencies of Interprofessional Team-Based Health Care.

Health care reform has focused on improving health care delivery, quality, and patient safety. An interprofessional, team-based approach to health care is considered by many experts to be essential to meeting these goals. The evidence for this is growing.

So You Want To Be A Reviewer.

Peer review is a process for evaluating the quality of "work" of a scientist or professional as judged by others in the same or related field. In the context of the biomedical and health sciences, it primarily pertains to review of manuscripts submitted to journals for consideration of publication, abstracts for proposed presentations at professional meetings, and competitive research grant applications. Serving as a reviewer is a scholarly pursuit and a worthwhile endeavor, assuming it is approached in a conscientious, responsible manner.

The Impact of Maternal Diabetes, Obesity and Race on Infant Birth Weights in South Dakota.

Introduction: Maternal obesity, high gestational weight gain and diabetes mellitus during pregnancy are known risk factors that correlate with high infant birth weight and the mother's race. Previous studies have focused on low birth weight, prematurity and infant mortality. This study examined the interaction between race, maternal risk factors and high infant birth weights at the population level in South Dakota to identify factors contributing to the high Native American infant birth weights.

So You Want to be an Author: A Primer on Writing for Publication in the Medical Literature Part I: Manuscript Preparation.

Writing a manuscript on a topic in the medical sciences that gets accepted for publication is not always a guaranteed process. The goal of this article is to provide a description of some key points associated with preparing a manuscript. It has been written primarily for less experienced or aspiring authors, but it addresses points that are important for even well-established authors to consider.

So You Want To Be An Author: A Primer On Writing For Publication In The Medical Literature Part II: Manuscript Submission.

Completing a draft of a manuscript that demonstrates the impact of your research within the current literature is the first step toward publication. The next step involves a review process that will allow your peers to provide feedback on the written document, with the goal of improving the presentation of your work. To complete this process, an author will have to be willing to accept constructive criticism of his or her work, as presented, and to modify the manuscript based on the feedback received.

Influence of Resident Physician "Moonlighting" Activities on Educational Experience and Practice Choice.

Objectives: Moonlighting by resident physicians, though a long-standing practice in the U.S., is a controversial topic.

Student perceptions of their value to patient care.

Purpose: Engagement in meaningful activities is integral to professional identity formation, yet little has been reported in the medical education literature and no studies have focused on the medical student's perspective. This study sought to further define meaningful activities and value to patient care as perceived by third- and fourth-year medical students and to explore whether there was correlation with a sense of accomplishment.

Methods: The authors surveyed third- and fourth-year medical students of the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine regarding their perceptions using the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey.

Extenuating circumstances. Student selection of case presentations for a required rural family medicine clerkship.

Purpose: The Fourth Year Rural Family Medicine Clerkship has been a required four-week clinical rotation at the Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota (SSOM) for more than 30 years. Among the clerkship requirements has been a graded, formal case presentation. The purpose of this study was to examine the case presentations selected by the medical students for this required component of the clerkship and to determine if this correlated with their overall clinical experiences.

Low health literacy: a barrier to effective patient care.

Background: Health literacy is defined in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative Healthy People 2010 as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

Extenuating circumstances: The University of South Dakota Physician Assistant Studies program.

During the course of graduating 15 classes of physician assistant students at The University of South Dakota much has evolved, yet our ultimate goal remains the same: To meet the needs of South Dakota and the region. The inaugural class graduated in 1995, making this year our 15th graduating class. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief historical background and to describe the evolution of the Physician Assistant Studies program.